Rolling back emissions bad idea

Saturday

Aug 11, 2018 at 6:00 AM

By Martin Fey

If you've ever driven behind a classic 1970s car you probably marveled at its beauty while simultaneously being repelled by the odor spewing from its tailpipe. Our reminiscences of those distinctively designed vehicles often omits the fact that they were terrible polluters and terribly unsafe.The federal Clean Air Act of 1970, updated many time since then, began the elimination of those noxious tailpipe fumes. The toxic lead, sulfur dioxide and unburned gasoline with its polluting additives that spewed from those old classics adversely affected American health and life expectancy and was incredibly wasteful.Federal auto safety requirements also began to be enacted around the same time, and those accumulated mandates have saved tens of thousands of lives. Meanwhile, federal durability standards and international competition have effectively doubled the life expectancy of the average car. A car that reached 100,000 miles was once considered a marvel, even if it burned a quart of oil every 500 miles and required frequent repairs and body work to keep it going. Now even an inexpensive compact is likely to get to that milestone without any major engine wear or rust, and to go on for another 50,000 without much trouble.As a conservative I am a free-market advocate, which generally means objecting to government intervention in the market place. But I also subscribe to the libertarian view that your freedom ends where my nose begins, and in the ‘70s the noses of every American were being assaulted daily by the polluting cars and trucks that were being sold. We were also being sold dangerous vehicles designed to quickly turn to junk.With every new pollution and safety requirement, automakers objected that the cost of vehicles would become prohibitive. So nearly 70 years later, how do those predictions stack up?In 1970, the average car cost around $3,500. Today the average is $25,000; however, adjusted for inflation the real cost of a car in 1970 was around $23,000 in 2018 dollars, and today's vehicles get twice the gas mileage, paying that minor difference back to the consumer within a year and saving thousands in ensuing years. If there's a crash, despite the smaller size of today's cars, roll cage designs, air bags and improved seat belt systems greatly increase chances of avoiding serious injury or death. The average annual death rate on U.S. highways is two-thirds what is once was, and it's not because we are better drivers.The Trump administration last week announced that it plans to roll back the Obama era auto emissions goals. This would involve freezing average fuel efficiency standards at the planned 2021 level of 37 miles per gallon, rather than going on to the planned 2025 level of 55 mpg. Surprisingly, auto makers are not happy about the change, fearing that states like California will challenge the new standards in federal court or insist on setting their own more stringent standards, creating a manufacturing and marketing nightmare.It may be that the 55 mpg goal is too ambitious, but rather than freezing the improvements at 2021 levels this administration should endeavor to find what is realistically possible, without sacrificing affordability or safety, and set that number as the goal. As the past has shown, the environment and the consumer both benefit from reasonable federal mileage and safety requirements.

Martin Fey is a member of the Quiet Corner Tea Party Patriots.

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